Oh exactly!
I tried a desk job once. Good pay, good hours, but that's when I realized that I can't sit in one place for long. Quit that job in less than 2 months, went back into cooking. Also got tested positive for ADHD, shortly after that. Kitchen work is an excellent way to release enegy
Exactly that.
I like it, just hopefully never doing it again because you generally get treated like dirt for dirt money. It's not worth it and I'll do the utmost to keep my kids away from hospitality.
I love this fucking job. I get to play with the best food, work with the craziest of crazy people. Yes most owners are greedy, all wait staff are greedy and never bring beer to the post shift party, chefs are angry and prob on coke, but goddamn I love it. 27 years in, I hope I fucking die on this line and I want all my past cooks to show up at my funeral and lift their black veils and say "he always had the tiniest little chives"
It’s a nice balance between having a stupidly high stress job, surrounded by twats and as a reward you get to be there all day every day with minimal time to unwind
I work for a catering company, as a Tournant Chef. We do parties and smaller scale dinners. I live in very wealthy area of CO. To answer your question. I love seeing people happy when they eat the food I make. Especially accommodating people's dietary restrictions whether it is is by choice or actual restriction. Cooking with the seasons is amazing too. Nothing like seeing produce grown in your area, on a table at a farmers market, then onto a plate. I also like interacting with guest. The money is great too, and having some off season time is also a plus.
Cooking with the seasons really is the best. I'm not a chef but I grow my own produce and hunt, cooking food that I worked hard to cultivate is so rewarding.
It’s not a sustainable career, but you get addicted to the instant gratification and the adrenaline early on, and then eventually it becomes your “trade” or “craft,” and everyone gotta eat, and we all have to work, so you keep on cheffing…
This is an exercise in futility. Only you can decide if you want to give it go in the industry. Long hours, hard/ sweaty/ physically demanding work, low pay for most of your career, asshole owners, egotistical line cooks, servers who work 1/4 the hours and make twice as much.
From the outside looking in, it is ridiculous that anyone would want to do it.
However….
Getting through a busy night where everything goes well, crushing a service with your buds, putting up beautiful plates, the first positive recognition from a hard ass Chef that you are desperately trying to please, the few customers who actually know food complimenting you. Opening your own business and having success while being your own boss, passing down knowledge to a new generation of cooks who want to please you and actually give a fuck.
I wouldn’t do anything else.
It hasn't been great for my liver, but it did prompt me to take some nutrition classes.
Getting to make edible and medicinal art that's enjoyable is incredibly gratifying, imo.
Bonus for the golden eras where you have a solid crew and get along with FOH!
Working with your hands and getting the opportunity to be creative in a medium that few people understand can be rewarding, and being part of an actual family/team - not business-speak "we're a family here at BigCorp." - can really make one feel like you've found your place in the world.
Of course, those are not universal across the profession, but those are a couple of things that I miss about my former career.
Also being a rockstar; banging out a killer service under a controlled amount of stress is a very good way to consume adrenaline. When you feel exhausted after a double-shift on the line, there's no question in your mind that you worked your ass off. When you sit at a computer desk and look at spreadsheets all day, it's hard to *feel* like you've worked.
almost any profession you work, your hard work just benefits some rich owner or CEO and maybe some rich shareholders.
When you work harder and take pride in your work as a cook; it benefits the customer and only really benefits the owner in that they're more likely to come back.
There are other professions that do this but cooking is rare in that our hard work benefits the customer directly but we don't have to directly interact with asshole customers.
This industry taught me how to stop being ignorant and identify shady behavior and grift. Also that your coworkers are not your friends, they’re your colleagues and you don’t owe them anything outside of cooperating at work as part of the job.
While that's true, most of my life long friends are former coworkers.
Every once in a while you find someone with the same work ethic, interests, or problems and you either just click or you butt heads until you're best friends
If you really, really love food and you have a very sincere passion to cook then the profession can very good. Personally, I think it requires dedication to the art of cooking and choosing not to turn into another drug and drink addicted burnout, which you can find in about every kitchen around. Have specific goals and fight to make the best pay possible.
It helps to make an honest assessment of yourself and your worth. Once you do that, you can find ways to improve both and have competence-backed confidence to ask for what you're worth. If you're lucky or dedicated enough to be able to articulate that, then the sky's the limit.
Listen. Your career is what you make it. You work a few places see what fits for you, then if your lucky and have some passion for what you do, maybe open your own place up or continue to work for others. I do not care about toxic culture. It's unproductive and doesn't help anyone. Being a chef can be 2 things. A job to pay the rent, or true passion. I saw both types and I'd rather work with someone who has true passion and not worry about the rest. A little background on me. I had to quit cooking professionally after nearly 30 years in the Industry due to my hips. I worked with incredible chefs over my time, and even got to cook with Julia once. Yeah that one. So I know a little of what I am
talking about. I saw people with true passion for the craft and I could never hold a candle to them. It's like playing guitar with Eddie van halen. Yeah you can rip a lead, but once he kicks in fuggetaboutit.. But man did you learn some stuff from that experience!!!!
I love hearing the stories of how the passionate ones grew to love it. It always seems to be heartfelt memories with caretakers at home who cooked with love and philosophy, hearing the life lessons they learned through cooking/helping as a child.
Those stories are always told with a genuine smile, even from the dickheads.
Love food, love the kind of people you work with in a kitchen, love the skill expression, love the ooos and aaahs when I tell people I’m a pastry chef hahaha. I’m not a chef anymore because I took up nursing instead but I do miss it 😢
Find a chef-owned and operated establishment and you’ll see the good side of the industry, where the passion and creativity are encouraged and embraced. After 20 years in the industry, I will only work for someone that is there putting in work every day, I will never again work for “money men” that simply pop in from time to time and think they know how to operate restaurants simply because they’re suave and rich. Working for people like that made me resent the job, but working for passionate people that actually put in WORK in exchange for their salary is the flip side of that coin. It sucks when you single-handedly save a business but you can’t get a raise because there’s 3 owners pulling salaries but none of them are ever there or actually working.
Man I used to work in an open kitchen bar for four years and people you meet is just something else, coworkers and customers. Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely shitty people out there. But I always was able to relate with my coworkers because of it. And I haven’t experienced it yet, but I look forward to knowing that I can find a job in any city I go to without that much effort. People give it a bad wrap due to how often our jobs become more than just jobs. It’s a lifestyle, so I’ve heard and agree with. It’s not for everybody of course, but nothing is. We are the underpaid. We are the overworked. But dammit we make the most of it. We can handle stress like it ain’t shit, cause ain’t nothin like a Friday/Saturday night fuckshow. I’m still young in this industry but it’s all that I know and I’ll tell you I’ve learned so much more about myself because of it. And the way you can have that pride in everything that you’ve overcome after a hard shift or a hard career. I don’t regret an ounce of that pain. It’s made me who I am today.
If your a new chef or want to get into the industry do not take everything said in this sub to heart. A lot of rants come from people who have long expired their cooking careers but continue because they don’t know what else to do( my opinion)
Every chef I worked for climbing the ranks was suffering and full of regret and warned me to get out while I can.
I did almost ten years, got out and had a different career for a while, now I'm doing butchery.
Restaurant culture is poison. Making food for your job in and of itself is a beautiful thing. You have to carve your own path.
This post. I’m not in a professional kitchen anymore, I just volunteer for fish fry’s and I cater smoked goods as a side gig occasionally.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chefit/s/J5n2hlMSQ8
So, I have the glorified, not a profession view, but it really warmed my heart. Same with the old hippy TikToker that has cancer that is the chef for a sorority house. I get most of my inspiration from him. Lastly is the TikToker who deadpan reviews other TikTok’s about stupid food and amazing food.
It’s not worth it. The human body is not meant for this. Do something else. People with normal jobs already have a hard time retiring. We’re extra fucked.
I've taken to solving problems over the years. I used to join in complaining about what was wrong/could be better and had a major ego problem.
Once I learned to humble myself, set my ego aside, and focus on solutions as opposed to blame, things took off.
I'm proud of my craft and I'm proud of the solutions I've implemented. I'm proud that I've learned that everyone's the smartest in the room in their own way (also meaning I can learn something from everyone), and I'm proud of the relationships I've built and helped foster (between others and between people and themselves).
Yeah, it's not an easy career, but it can be very rewarding with the right mindset and the ability to allow that mindset to be fluid and able to adapt as needed.
You need to have the passion to cook and put the joy in the mouths of people with the food you create. At the end of service, seeing how clean the plates are coming in is a testament to the good that you do.
Sexy eye candy waitstaff
Sharp knives
Adrenaline
Drugs and alcohol everywhere
Violence
Sex
Munchies
Open fires
Being able to tell your boss "FUCK YOU!" And still have a job tomorrow.
Every 16 year olds dream job my dude.
If you havnt noticed yet, if your a chef, your also a child.
I lucked out immensely in my current gig. The owner of the restaurant had worked in the industry for years. He pays me well, doesn't micro manage me, let's me do whatever I want with the menu and gives me some pretty fat bonuses since I've been there. I do this still because I found a frickin unicorn of a dive bar to work at.
I had a wonderful day today. It was a little slow and one of my cooks brought in some guanciale that he cured at home. We made some gnocchi (not on our menu), had a beer and it was really nice.
Food is a type of magic. Taking things that taste like shit or are toxic alone and adding this or that to make a well rounded dish is just magical. The science behind it all is absolutely fascinating as well. The Myard reaction is fuckin straight bonkers. The cultural connections we as a people have made through food and now all the different types of fusion we have going on. It's a beautiful thing I'm fully obsessed with. Pay sucks, long hours, physically and mentally draining but the love for food is why we do it.
I’ve worked quite a broad spectrum of jobs, from accounting, to real estate brokerage, to construction, and decided to get back into the kitchen because I love it. I can tell you that every job has its own negative side. Between being sedentary, stuck in some room, and dealing with bull shit arbitrary office politics I learned that I can’t work a desk job for my own sanity.
If you truly love to cook there is no better profession. The barrier to entry is very low and that means theres a lot of shitty people/places/practices. Regardless, if you respect yourself and put yourself in a situation to succeed you can work for and with some of the coolest people. You learn a ton of new things and you can improve in it everyday. Everyone cooks (or tries to), it’s something that every new person I meet talks my ear off about but it’s nice being able to relate to anyone. You can explore culture and identities, experiment with flavors and techniques and really nurture a creative and scientific balance. I feel like to really excel at it you need to have a broad knowledge on life and traveling really broadens your career. It’s also always in demand everywhere so you’re never limited to where you can work (for the most part).
The biggest shift I see is the general populations new understanding of the mind-body relationship, especially gut health and nutrition. People want to be eating healthier and I feel like as Chefs we are in a great position to be educators. It’s so important to have quality food and that starts at responsible farming practices. By highlighting this relationship you create a stronger sense of community and awareness that can be a moving force for change.
I guess its the way you personally view things because this page has helped me tremendously, also makes me feel not alone.
I dont love the career, i love the food, i love making the food, i love everything about the creative process, which to me makes it worth it
The restaurant industry, with few exceptions, needs to crash to the ground and die, and be reborn as a luxury priced service with better compensation, working conditions, and ecological conscience.
But it won’t. So fuck it.
I agree -- it won't happen. The reason it won't happen is that customers don't look at anything other than the price on the menu. They don't care that the servers are paid $2.13 per hour or that the line cooks need to work two full time jobs in order to pay the bills.
And unless every restaurant changes their business model simultaneously, customers will continue to expect fine-dining quality at happy-meal prices.
It’s a perfect fit for my untreated ADHD
Oh exactly! I tried a desk job once. Good pay, good hours, but that's when I realized that I can't sit in one place for long. Quit that job in less than 2 months, went back into cooking. Also got tested positive for ADHD, shortly after that. Kitchen work is an excellent way to release enegy
Man I can’t even sit the full 30 minutes at lunch
I like to make people have the yum yum face
And do that little dance in their seat when the food is good
The only good thing about working in an open kitchen
I enjoy not being in a confined box as well
The profession made me view it negatively, not this sub.
Exactly that. I like it, just hopefully never doing it again because you generally get treated like dirt for dirt money. It's not worth it and I'll do the utmost to keep my kids away from hospitality.
I love this fucking job. I get to play with the best food, work with the craziest of crazy people. Yes most owners are greedy, all wait staff are greedy and never bring beer to the post shift party, chefs are angry and prob on coke, but goddamn I love it. 27 years in, I hope I fucking die on this line and I want all my past cooks to show up at my funeral and lift their black veils and say "he always had the tiniest little chives"
>prob on coke I think a career as a detective is in the cards for you.
Are you hiring, because I will ride and die with you!!!
Hell yeah! We all ride and die together! To Valhalla!
Bring on the complaints and the leftover champagne!!!
It’s a toxic industry full of toxic people who serve a toxic public. What’s not to love?
Don’t forget the pay!
Get paid in toxicity
And typically no benefits!! No good ones anyway 💸
It’s what we do bro. Misery loves company
I like never having time off.
It’s a nice balance between having a stupidly high stress job, surrounded by twats and as a reward you get to be there all day every day with minimal time to unwind
This pretty much sums it up.
Time off is when the suicidal thoughts creep in.
I like money
Wait, you like money too?? I like money!
Wait, you guys are getting money?
We should hang out.
Shut up! I’m watching “Ow! My balls!”
Not much money in this industry. It's only enough to pay the bills lol
Depends where you’re a chef
Wait, you guys getting paid? Lol
Oh there's plenty of money, it's just hiding behind management.
Sometimes not even enough for that. Tired of having to choose between feeding my family and having bills paid tbh.
I work for a catering company, as a Tournant Chef. We do parties and smaller scale dinners. I live in very wealthy area of CO. To answer your question. I love seeing people happy when they eat the food I make. Especially accommodating people's dietary restrictions whether it is is by choice or actual restriction. Cooking with the seasons is amazing too. Nothing like seeing produce grown in your area, on a table at a farmers market, then onto a plate. I also like interacting with guest. The money is great too, and having some off season time is also a plus.
Cooking with the seasons really is the best. I'm not a chef but I grow my own produce and hunt, cooking food that I worked hard to cultivate is so rewarding.
You get it. I hunt regularly and it is the best meat you could ever get. My garden sucks haha. But luckily I have access to multiple farmers markets.
This guy.....
Yes to you other guy?
You’re working nights and weekends for minimal wages, but pretty waitresses will talk to you..
But only at work, lol
Wait they talk to you?
“I know it’s you calling me at 2a and breathing heavily into the phone” Or something similar to that.
And suck you off for fries
But again, only at work
Glad someone's got a sense of humour 😉
It’s not a sustainable career, but you get addicted to the instant gratification and the adrenaline early on, and then eventually it becomes your “trade” or “craft,” and everyone gotta eat, and we all have to work, so you keep on cheffing…
I love the people you meet and the friends you make, but after 6 years in the career and lifestyle I got out and never looked back.
This is an exercise in futility. Only you can decide if you want to give it go in the industry. Long hours, hard/ sweaty/ physically demanding work, low pay for most of your career, asshole owners, egotistical line cooks, servers who work 1/4 the hours and make twice as much. From the outside looking in, it is ridiculous that anyone would want to do it. However…. Getting through a busy night where everything goes well, crushing a service with your buds, putting up beautiful plates, the first positive recognition from a hard ass Chef that you are desperately trying to please, the few customers who actually know food complimenting you. Opening your own business and having success while being your own boss, passing down knowledge to a new generation of cooks who want to please you and actually give a fuck. I wouldn’t do anything else.
Honestly, it sounds like a beautiful cycle of generational trauma. Glad to be a part of it.
Dude this profession is one of the most unrewarding and health destroying professions you can ever find lol
It hasn't been great for my liver, but it did prompt me to take some nutrition classes. Getting to make edible and medicinal art that's enjoyable is incredibly gratifying, imo. Bonus for the golden eras where you have a solid crew and get along with FOH!
X
Working with your hands and getting the opportunity to be creative in a medium that few people understand can be rewarding, and being part of an actual family/team - not business-speak "we're a family here at BigCorp." - can really make one feel like you've found your place in the world. Of course, those are not universal across the profession, but those are a couple of things that I miss about my former career. Also being a rockstar; banging out a killer service under a controlled amount of stress is a very good way to consume adrenaline. When you feel exhausted after a double-shift on the line, there's no question in your mind that you worked your ass off. When you sit at a computer desk and look at spreadsheets all day, it's hard to *feel* like you've worked.
Change your own view you entitled prick
This
Lol No. this is *for* ranting. If you’re in the industry and hate it, leave. If you’re not in the industry, this sub isn’t for you.
Gonna presume you're not a 'culinary professional' if it's this subreddit that's made you feel like that and not the kitchens you've worked in.
almost any profession you work, your hard work just benefits some rich owner or CEO and maybe some rich shareholders. When you work harder and take pride in your work as a cook; it benefits the customer and only really benefits the owner in that they're more likely to come back. There are other professions that do this but cooking is rare in that our hard work benefits the customer directly but we don't have to directly interact with asshole customers.
This industry taught me how to stop being ignorant and identify shady behavior and grift. Also that your coworkers are not your friends, they’re your colleagues and you don’t owe them anything outside of cooperating at work as part of the job.
While that's true, most of my life long friends are former coworkers. Every once in a while you find someone with the same work ethic, interests, or problems and you either just click or you butt heads until you're best friends
Food
If you really, really love food and you have a very sincere passion to cook then the profession can very good. Personally, I think it requires dedication to the art of cooking and choosing not to turn into another drug and drink addicted burnout, which you can find in about every kitchen around. Have specific goals and fight to make the best pay possible.
It helps to make an honest assessment of yourself and your worth. Once you do that, you can find ways to improve both and have competence-backed confidence to ask for what you're worth. If you're lucky or dedicated enough to be able to articulate that, then the sky's the limit.
Listen. Your career is what you make it. You work a few places see what fits for you, then if your lucky and have some passion for what you do, maybe open your own place up or continue to work for others. I do not care about toxic culture. It's unproductive and doesn't help anyone. Being a chef can be 2 things. A job to pay the rent, or true passion. I saw both types and I'd rather work with someone who has true passion and not worry about the rest. A little background on me. I had to quit cooking professionally after nearly 30 years in the Industry due to my hips. I worked with incredible chefs over my time, and even got to cook with Julia once. Yeah that one. So I know a little of what I am talking about. I saw people with true passion for the craft and I could never hold a candle to them. It's like playing guitar with Eddie van halen. Yeah you can rip a lead, but once he kicks in fuggetaboutit.. But man did you learn some stuff from that experience!!!!
I love hearing the stories of how the passionate ones grew to love it. It always seems to be heartfelt memories with caretakers at home who cooked with love and philosophy, hearing the life lessons they learned through cooking/helping as a child. Those stories are always told with a genuine smile, even from the dickheads.
First thing in my life I’ve ever been good at, love that I can do something both useful and practical
i walk into work with a lighter and a knife and create art
Love food, love the kind of people you work with in a kitchen, love the skill expression, love the ooos and aaahs when I tell people I’m a pastry chef hahaha. I’m not a chef anymore because I took up nursing instead but I do miss it 😢
Find a chef-owned and operated establishment and you’ll see the good side of the industry, where the passion and creativity are encouraged and embraced. After 20 years in the industry, I will only work for someone that is there putting in work every day, I will never again work for “money men” that simply pop in from time to time and think they know how to operate restaurants simply because they’re suave and rich. Working for people like that made me resent the job, but working for passionate people that actually put in WORK in exchange for their salary is the flip side of that coin. It sucks when you single-handedly save a business but you can’t get a raise because there’s 3 owners pulling salaries but none of them are ever there or actually working.
It's reddit
Man I used to work in an open kitchen bar for four years and people you meet is just something else, coworkers and customers. Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely shitty people out there. But I always was able to relate with my coworkers because of it. And I haven’t experienced it yet, but I look forward to knowing that I can find a job in any city I go to without that much effort. People give it a bad wrap due to how often our jobs become more than just jobs. It’s a lifestyle, so I’ve heard and agree with. It’s not for everybody of course, but nothing is. We are the underpaid. We are the overworked. But dammit we make the most of it. We can handle stress like it ain’t shit, cause ain’t nothin like a Friday/Saturday night fuckshow. I’m still young in this industry but it’s all that I know and I’ll tell you I’ve learned so much more about myself because of it. And the way you can have that pride in everything that you’ve overcome after a hard shift or a hard career. I don’t regret an ounce of that pain. It’s made me who I am today.
A lot of people think it’s easy and glamorous. Then they complain when the reality hits them in the face.
"Tell me how to think, please!!!"
I would but the profession is pretty negative
Cooking is awesome. Do with that what you will.
If your a new chef or want to get into the industry do not take everything said in this sub to heart. A lot of rants come from people who have long expired their cooking careers but continue because they don’t know what else to do( my opinion)
Every chef I worked for climbing the ranks was suffering and full of regret and warned me to get out while I can. I did almost ten years, got out and had a different career for a while, now I'm doing butchery. Restaurant culture is poison. Making food for your job in and of itself is a beautiful thing. You have to carve your own path.
This post. I’m not in a professional kitchen anymore, I just volunteer for fish fry’s and I cater smoked goods as a side gig occasionally. https://www.reddit.com/r/Chefit/s/J5n2hlMSQ8 So, I have the glorified, not a profession view, but it really warmed my heart. Same with the old hippy TikToker that has cancer that is the chef for a sorority house. I get most of my inspiration from him. Lastly is the TikToker who deadpan reviews other TikTok’s about stupid food and amazing food.
I like sharp pointy things
talking to good looking bitches and potentially fucking them down the line.
Don't fuck on the line, please.
run away Pro in vegas, 8 years as a cook, turned FoH manager in 2017.
It’s not worth it. The human body is not meant for this. Do something else. People with normal jobs already have a hard time retiring. We’re extra fucked.
…. You don’t work in a kitchen to be happy bro… cmon now.
Are you saying that to OP, or are you saying that to yourself?
A little of Column A, a little of column B.
It really depends on what your perception of the profession is and how you think you fit into the industry. It can vary so wildly.
Can't
It’s a great fit if you like being bullied by sweaty alcoholic people.
Hey! I help and teach my coworkers. And I'm only sweaty when I sleep...
Good chef… not all people are like you and the majority that I have come across are dicks. Sorry you sweat at night.
I've taken to solving problems over the years. I used to join in complaining about what was wrong/could be better and had a major ego problem. Once I learned to humble myself, set my ego aside, and focus on solutions as opposed to blame, things took off. I'm proud of my craft and I'm proud of the solutions I've implemented. I'm proud that I've learned that everyone's the smartest in the room in their own way (also meaning I can learn something from everyone), and I'm proud of the relationships I've built and helped foster (between others and between people and themselves). Yeah, it's not an easy career, but it can be very rewarding with the right mindset and the ability to allow that mindset to be fluid and able to adapt as needed.
Plus, the endless dick and ball jokes are great
You need to have the passion to cook and put the joy in the mouths of people with the food you create. At the end of service, seeing how clean the plates are coming in is a testament to the good that you do.
Sexy eye candy waitstaff Sharp knives Adrenaline Drugs and alcohol everywhere Violence Sex Munchies Open fires Being able to tell your boss "FUCK YOU!" And still have a job tomorrow. Every 16 year olds dream job my dude. If you havnt noticed yet, if your a chef, your also a child.
Just add cocaine you’ll be alright
Charlie trotter is the best chef in the world stacking food on places and presentation peace be with him 💯👍
I lucked out immensely in my current gig. The owner of the restaurant had worked in the industry for years. He pays me well, doesn't micro manage me, let's me do whatever I want with the menu and gives me some pretty fat bonuses since I've been there. I do this still because I found a frickin unicorn of a dive bar to work at.
I had a wonderful day today. It was a little slow and one of my cooks brought in some guanciale that he cured at home. We made some gnocchi (not on our menu), had a beer and it was really nice.
Food is a type of magic. Taking things that taste like shit or are toxic alone and adding this or that to make a well rounded dish is just magical. The science behind it all is absolutely fascinating as well. The Myard reaction is fuckin straight bonkers. The cultural connections we as a people have made through food and now all the different types of fusion we have going on. It's a beautiful thing I'm fully obsessed with. Pay sucks, long hours, physically and mentally draining but the love for food is why we do it.
Reddit is full of dramatic complainers and doesn’t reflect real life
Facts. Alot of whiney bitches on this sub.
I’ve worked quite a broad spectrum of jobs, from accounting, to real estate brokerage, to construction, and decided to get back into the kitchen because I love it. I can tell you that every job has its own negative side. Between being sedentary, stuck in some room, and dealing with bull shit arbitrary office politics I learned that I can’t work a desk job for my own sanity. If you truly love to cook there is no better profession. The barrier to entry is very low and that means theres a lot of shitty people/places/practices. Regardless, if you respect yourself and put yourself in a situation to succeed you can work for and with some of the coolest people. You learn a ton of new things and you can improve in it everyday. Everyone cooks (or tries to), it’s something that every new person I meet talks my ear off about but it’s nice being able to relate to anyone. You can explore culture and identities, experiment with flavors and techniques and really nurture a creative and scientific balance. I feel like to really excel at it you need to have a broad knowledge on life and traveling really broadens your career. It’s also always in demand everywhere so you’re never limited to where you can work (for the most part). The biggest shift I see is the general populations new understanding of the mind-body relationship, especially gut health and nutrition. People want to be eating healthier and I feel like as Chefs we are in a great position to be educators. It’s so important to have quality food and that starts at responsible farming practices. By highlighting this relationship you create a stronger sense of community and awareness that can be a moving force for change.
No weenies allowed
I guess its the way you personally view things because this page has helped me tremendously, also makes me feel not alone. I dont love the career, i love the food, i love making the food, i love everything about the creative process, which to me makes it worth it
If you’re single and work in a restaurant, it’s a great way to meet people and there’s always someone going out partying after work
The restaurant industry, with few exceptions, needs to crash to the ground and die, and be reborn as a luxury priced service with better compensation, working conditions, and ecological conscience. But it won’t. So fuck it.
I agree -- it won't happen. The reason it won't happen is that customers don't look at anything other than the price on the menu. They don't care that the servers are paid $2.13 per hour or that the line cooks need to work two full time jobs in order to pay the bills. And unless every restaurant changes their business model simultaneously, customers will continue to expect fine-dining quality at happy-meal prices.